94 Books Like To Say Nothing of the Dog

Kage Baker is an Isaac Asimov compared to Terry Pratchett’s Marx Brothers. In the Garden of Iden is more sci-fi than fantasy, including time travel, cybernetics, and nanotechnologies. And love and loss. This book is part of a series of novels that Baker crafted about time-travelling enhanced humans who carry out critical tasks throughout history. 

What I loved most about this book is how very human her main characters are. Like Pratchett and Bill Shakespeare, Baker is a master at showing us human nature. Her comedy is high comedy. I laugh because I recognize myself in her characters. Baker has a fine eye for the subtle and the absurd. And yet unlike many humorous authors, the tragedies of the heart are always at the core of her stories.

For all the highly enjoyable shenanigans around using time travel to prevent JFK’s assassination, I came away loving this book for reasons I don’t normally associate with King–I genuinely loved his characters. Jake Epping is a sympathetic lead, and I became far more invested in his love for Sadie than in the assassination-thwarting.

I’d hesitate to say this is King’s finest book, but of those I’ve read, it’s definitely my favourite. I found the climax so emotionally satisfying; it genuinely moved me.

I can only speak from my experience and, wow, this book hooked me right at the end of that first chapter, “but it’s happening faster.” Now to go into what that means, I will remain spoiler-free, but my jaw dropped. And the story only ramped up after that.

I love stories where the protagonist finds themselves in genuine peril, and Claire puts Harry August in a particular type of peril that truly had me terrified for his well-being in every chapter. The best type of suspense escalates in every chapter and it escalates here in this book in the best possible ways.

While not perhaps a “romance” novel in the established-formula sense, this book is achingly romantic. This epic story truly focuses on the gradual development of the two protagonists’ relationship and how time travel both created and challenged their love. This book ignited my passion for magic-realism romantic novels and remains one of my top books of all time.

I adore the contrast of romantic love between two seemingly destined souls and the brutality of some events caused by Henry’s uncontrolled time travel. There’s also the tricky angle of the age gap (only sometimes, depending on where Henry and Clare are in their lives, but it is occasionally extreme), which the author doesn’t shy away from. And I confess this is probably the book that made me sob the most!

This book isn’t just my favorite time-travel novel—it’s my favorite book, period.

If Back to the Future is the gold standard for time travel storytelling, Replay is its literary counterpart. (And the two were released just six months apart!)

Grimwood takes the classic time loop premise and twists it into a moving, mind-bending exploration of identity, regret, and second chances.

Ever since my first read, I’ve spent many sleepless nights spiraling through my own infinite “what ifs”—imagining how I might change my own life if given the chance to relive it, how far future knowledge could take me, and whether it would indeed make me happier. It’s a risky mental game, but Grimwood plays it masterfully in this brilliant, still-underrated gem.

The late Sir Pratchett was a hero of mine. The Discworld universe is one of the most well-put-together, zany, yet relatable places. The amount of depth that he was able to achieve with a setting that others might consider a joke is astounding.

In order for a universe to connect with me, it has to have characters that I love dearly. Granny Aching and her granddaughter Tiffany are among the few literary characters that have ever brought me to tears on multiple occasions. I used to read this book to my students, and there is one scene in particular towards the end that causes me to choke up every time I read it.

It’s simple and powerful, and it speaks to me on a personal level. I lost my mom back in 2008, and the scene to which I am referring here hits on that sense of loss so well… show more.

Neil Gaiman’s ability to weave a huge fantasy world and tell an engaging tale with a beautiful love story at its heart is just what makes this book so special to me.

Enemies to lovers, Yvaine and Tristran’s love story gives me all the feels. I loved falling in love along with them! It was literally magical.

Gaiman knows how to pepper in cheeky humor exactly when necessary, and the simplicity of his writing magically transforms words into this epic fantasy world that lives rent-free in my head. I love this book.

The first thing I noticed when I started reading Jasper Fforde was how funny and clever he was. This is what I’m looking for, I thought, smiling broadly. The heroine of the series of which this book is a part is a literary detective named Thursday Next. Need I say more? You know immediately the kind of humor you are getting into.

I am not easily entertained by stories with average complexity and imagination. When I find a writer like Fforde who can push my boundaries, I am so grateful. In this book, he creates a delightful alternate world in which real and imaginary figures interact and sometimes exchange places. And always a good crime to solve here.

Safa Patel is a police officer who anchors an elite team assembled to save the world. She is fabulous because she can strategize a scenario, field strip and reassemble a gun in no time, and take on a group of commandoes. I would want her in a foxhole with me! Fantastical elements include time travel, prehistoric beasts, international intrigue, and the merits of leather boots.

I love this book because it values heroes who come in different shapes and sizes with different skills. Haywood has crafted a wildly creative adventure rich with friendship and humor. One character taught me how to do a quick head-to-toe body check to be sure all the parts are there and working after being unconscious.

Will killing Hitler ever not be the time travel question du jour? Maybe not, but this book takes a different tack, as a group of 21st century elitists, dissatisfied with their utopia, decide that helping Hitler would lead to a world more suited to their tastes. So they send back weapons and advisors to prop up Nazi Germany. This means, of course, that their foes — our heroes! — have to chase their way into the past and prop up none other than Winston Churchill as a counter to the rise of Hitler. The result is both not what you expect and also exactly what you expect.